94 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



whole time of my service with the government I was strongly 

 of the opinion that the farmer should not bear the loss of 

 diseases of this kind caused by official act. It is bad enough 

 to bear the losses from hog cholera and other incidental dis- 

 eases, but when animals are destroyed by order of the nation 

 or the State, for the protection of the public at large, the case 

 is quite different, and the producer has the right to expect a 

 reasonable compensation. 



One of the great problems which the producer is soon to 

 face, and which he is now facing in many cases, is that of 

 refrigeration. In view of the fact that a high temperature, 

 that is, above 50° F., promotes the rapid deterioration of milk 

 and an enormous growth of the bacterial flora, it is reasonable 

 on the part of the consumer to require that milk should be 

 delivered at a low temperature. Not only should milk be 

 delivered at a low temperature, but it should be reduced to a 

 low temperature immediately after it is withdrawn from the 

 udder. In other words, the milk producer must be provided 

 with some method of refrigeration. In the north, where abun- 

 dant ice crops are produced, it is not difficult for the dairyman 

 to handle this problem in the way of providing an ice supply. 

 In my locality, where the v^^inters are usually so mild that ice 

 is not formed in sufficient quantity for preserving, and where 

 the summers are hotter and longer, the problem is one of great 

 significance. 



At first I tried to solve it by using the water of a moun- 

 tain spring, the temperature of which is normally about 55°, 

 but which in summer, by piping and otherwise, rises to about 

 60°. As soon as the milk is secured it is cooled by passing 

 over a cooler through which this spring water is flowing. The 

 milk is thus secured at a temperature, even in summer, of 

 about 60° as a rule. This, however, is not sufficient for the 

 purposes of the consumer. It will be necessary, in the south, 

 to provide some artificial refrigeration by means of which the 

 temperature of the milk can be greatly reduced below 60°. In 

 fact, it ought to be reduced to 40°, and can be with a good 

 system of refrigeration. If milk is reduced to 40° and then 

 shipped in a double can, the space between the two cans being 



